Ironing board



Oct. '6, 1959 R. E. WAUGH- ETAL 2,907,127

IRONING BOARD Filed Dec. 8, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 03km? L. Fume, 97E. 7 WWW%%% ATTORNEYS Oct. 6, 1959 R. E. WAUGH ETAL 2,907,127

IRONING BOARD Filed Dec. 8, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS leak/vi Mus/l 0346mm:- L, fipagfi.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,907,127 IRONING BOARD Robert E. Waugh and Osborne L. Rider, Jr., Baltimore, Md., assignors to Englander Company, Inc., Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Application December 8, 1955, Serial No. 551,847

' 1 Claim. (Cl. 38-137) This invention relates to ironing boards and more particularly relates to light weight plastic ironing boards having a high rigidity.

Many attempts have been made heretofore to provide light weight inexpensive ironing boards which possess an adequate structural rigidity. Wooden boards of various types have been provided as well as metal boards generally formed from expanded metal. The wooden boards, however, are relatively heavy while the metal boards are higher in price and are subject to rusting after prolonged periods of use. In addition to this the metal boards tend to conduct the heat away. from the bottom of the iron so that if it is. left to stand in one spot for any prolonged period a large area of the metal is heated and the temperature of the iron is somewhat reduced. The heat of the iron is thus dissipated through any fabric to be ironed which is in position on the board and upon resumption of ironing some time must be allowed to elapse before the iron again reaches the proper temperature. Plastic materials have generally been considered unsatisfactory for use in ironing boards because of their inability to withstand the high iron temperatures.

We have now found that it is possible to provide a rigid, extremely light weight plastic ironing board'which satisfactorily resists iron temperatures if a honeycomb structure is sandwiched between thin glass reinforced polyester sheets. When the woven glass reinforced sheets are assembled with a honeycomb in this manner they possess the unusual and unexpected characteristic of being able to resist iron temperatures which would visibly degradate the sheet alone. We have also found that honeycomb boards formed in this manner have a tendency to contain the heat of the iron in the area around the iron when it is left unmoved from the surface for any given period of time. The effect of this concentrated heat does not impair the nature of the honeycomb board and offers the advantage of keeping the iron hot on the bottom when it is not in use as well as preventing the dissipation of the heat through the material or fabric which is being ironed.

It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a light weight ironing board formed of plastic material.

It is another object of the invention to provide an inexpensive light weight ironing board formed of a plastic surfaced honeycomb structure.

It is another object of the invention to provide a light weight structurally rigid ironing board consisting of a honeycomb sandwiched between single ply woven glass reinforced polyester sheets.

It is another object of the invention to provide a light weight ironing board consisting of a honeycomb structure sandwiched between single ply sheets of woven glass reinforced polyester which contains the heat of the iron in a small area.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reference to the following 'ice 2 specification and claims and the appended drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical cross section of an ironing board constructed according tothe invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the ironing board shown in Figure l partly broken away to show the honeycomb structure;

Figure 3 shows another embodiment of a honeycomb structure; I

Figure 4 shows still a further embodiment of a honeycomb structure;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of an ironing board constructed with the plastic encased honeycomb structure of the invention; and p Figure 6 is a bottom view of the ironing board shown in Figure 5.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing there is shown an ironing board which consists of a pair of spaced polyester walls 10 and 12 having a plurality of ribbons 14 interposed therebetween at right angles to the surface of the walls. The ribbons 14 are bent back and forth in an undulating fashion and, in the embodiment shown in Figure 2, are placed with alternate peaks of adjacent ribbons in engagement 'with one another. In assembling the ribbons they are coated with an adhesive so that adjacent ribbons are bonded together to form a unit structure.

The edges of the ribbons are bonded to the walls 10 and 12 by means of an adhesive, preferably an epoxy resin. In order to apply the adhesive, the ribbon may be held in fixed position by a jig or fixture, and the lower wall, such as 12, is coated with adhesive in liquid form whereupon the'ribbons, still retained by the fixture, are laid upon and held against the surface of the wall 12 in contact with the adhesive. While in this state the adhesive is dried by allowing the resin to cure, resulting in a hard deposit which forms a strong bond between the wall 12 and ribbons 14. This bond is of sufiicient strength that it is substantially equal to the strength of the material constituting the ribbon itself. After the ribbons are bonded to the wall 12, as thus described, the fixture for holding the ribbons is removed, the assembly is inverted and the ribbons are forced into contact with the wall 10 which also has been coated with a layer of liquid adhesive. A similar drying operation takes place to complete the assembled structure. When thermoplastic resins are used, such resins may be dried on the walls 10 and 12 before the application of the ribbons, the subsequent heating operation being sufiicient to soften the resin to eiiect the bonding condition. The edges of the composite board thus formed are closed by means of a channel shaped member 16 which may preferably be extruded or rolled aluminum. In order to obtain the desired structural rigidity and heat resistance the surface sheets must be glass reinforced and are preferably formed of a general purpose polyester such as the product marketed by American Cyanamid Company under the trade name of Laminac 4116. Woven glass is the preferred reinforcing material.

Other shapes of honeycomb structure may be utilized and two such arrangements are shown in Figures 3 and 4. Thus referring to Figure 3 there is shown a series of undulating ribbons 18 which are bonded together at alternate peaks as were the zigzag ribbons 14 in Figure 2. In Figure 4 undulating ribbons 20 are arranged in phase and are separated and bonded together by means of retainers 22 which may be of the same material as the ribbons. While phenolic impregnated paper is the preferred material for forming the honeycomb ribbon, other materials may be utilized, such as, metal foils, or metals. The thickness of the board may be varied to 3 suit the application at hand and the distance between the walls and 12 may range between A to 1 /2 inches although the preferred thickness is A to 1 inch.

Referring to Figures 5 and 6 there is shown an ironing board constructed of a honeycomb board according to the invention. The honeycomb board 24 is provided with a pair of rear legs 26 and 28 which are pivoted thereto by means of brackets 30 and pins 32. A front leg 34 is pivoted to the underside of the board by means of U-shaped bracket 36 and pin 38 and extends forwardly to join two rearwardly extending braces 49 and 42 which are joined to approximately the mid point of the rear legs 26 and 28 by means of pins 44. A pair of forward locking members 44 and 46 are joined to the outside of the bracket 36 by means of the pin 38 and are pivoted to a pair of rear locking members 48 and 50 by means of a dowel 52. A further dowel 54 joins the forward locking members in order to provide rigidity. The rear end of the forward locking members 44 and 46 is beveled as shown at 56 and engages pins 58 and 60 in the rear locking members 48 and 50, respectively, in order to provide a toggle type locking action when the forward and rear locking members are pulled down to the position shown in Figure 5. When it is desired to fold the ironing board the forward and rear locking members are pushed upwardly and the front leg 34, braces 40 and 42 and the rear legs 26 and 28 all fold up against the underside of the board to provide a compact structure for storage. It will be obvious that other types of support arrangements could be utilized and that the arrangement shown in Figures 5 and 6 is intended merely to be illustrative. 7

It will be apparent from the foregoing that we have provided a light Weight ironing board formed of a plastic honeycomb structure which is capable of resisting the high temperatures normally encountered in ironing. The board is structurally rigid, is not subject to rust or other corrosion and has the property of containing the heat of the iron in a limited area.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore 4 r to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, thescope of the invention being indicated by the appended claim rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claim are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

A lightweight ironing board comprising a pair of spaced parallel woven glass reinforced polyester resin wall members, a plurality of spaced undulating ribbons of phenolic impregnated paper between said wall members and having their edges bonded thereto with epoxy resin, means connecting spaced portions of adjacent ribbons to form between said wall members a series of pockets having dimensions on three mutually perpendicular axes which are substantially larger than the thickness of said wall members, a peripheral channel member sealing the edges of said wall member, said wall member, said ribbons and said peripheral channel member forming an elongated ironing board structure having a relatively wide end and tapering edges at its other end, and support means comprising legs connected to one of said wall members.

References Cited in the file of this patent 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS 810,964 McArthur Jan. 30, 1906 2,213,042 Illmer Aug. 27, 1940 2,512,996 Bixler June 27, 1950 2,608,500 Del Mar et a1. Aug. 26, 1952 2,644,777 Havens July 7, 1953 2,670,314- Ungar Feb. 23, 1954 2,687,587 Strom et al Aug. 31, 1954 2,742,387 Giuliani Apr. 17, 1956 2,756,524 Kleinsorge July 31, 1956 OTHER REFERENCES Modern Plastics, November 1950, Epoxy Resins in Glass-Cloth Laminates, Silver et al. (pp. 113, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122). (Copy available in Classification Division 1.)

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